an alliance of university, community, and government partners dedicated to fostering welcoming communities and promoting the integration of immigrants and minorities across Canada
The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
Winnipeg Free Press – Kenney Defends Taking Iran, Iraq Refugees Over Syrians on Trip to Turkish Camp
The NDP and a Syrian Canadian group are questioning why Immigration Minister Jason Kenney chose to accept Iraqi and Iranian refugees when he visited fleeing Syrians in Turkey last month. They accuse Kenney of misleading the Canadian public by touting his visit as being in support of Syrian refugees, which currently number about 200,000 in Turkey, when Canada opted instead to take 5,000 Iraqis and Iranians. But Kenney’s office says there’s a perfectly good explanation for the decision: Turkey won’t let any fleeing Syrians leave the country until the United Nations officially declares them actual refugees. Kenney’s aides also say Canada is currently co-operating with the UN’s refugee agency, which doesn’t want to push the resettlement of the hundreds of thousands of fleeing Syrians just yet.
Winnipeg Free Press – Only 12 Citizenships Revoked so Far in 18-Month Crackdown on Fraud
Efforts to combat citizenship fraud are creating lengthy backlogs for would-be Canadians while only slowly weeding out bogus citizens, statistics from the Immigration Department show. Last fall, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the government had already revoked 19 citizenships from more than 3,000 people under investigation for fraud since a crackdown was launched in July 2011. But his department now acknowledges only 12 of those revocations were explicitly connected to the fraud investigations. And of the 3,000 suspected fraudsters, only 286 have actually been found by the department and given formal notice that their citizenship is on the line. Ninety per cent have responded with notice of their own that they intend to appeal to the Federal Court, the Immigration Department says. Hundreds more letters are in the process of being sent out to notify people their citizenship is at risk, said a spokeswoman for Kenney.
Market Wire – Minister Toews Statement on Arrests and Expansion of the “Wanted by the CBSA” List
The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, issued the following statement on the recent arrests of two individuals sought by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), as well as the addition of five new profiles to the “Wanted by the CBSA” list. […] “I applaud the efforts of the officers of the RCMP and CBSA Immigration Task Force who made the arrests of the 38th and 39th individuals from the ‘Wanted by the CBSA’ list. The safety and security of our citizens is a top priority for our government, and we will continue to support our law enforcement officers in their work to identify, detain and remove individuals who endanger our communities. With the addition of five new names to the ‘Wanted by the CBSA’ list, we urge Canadians to remain vigilant and notify the authorities if they have information that could help in locating any of the individuals who remain at large.”
Citizenship and Immigration Canada News Release – Canada Welcomes Record Number of Immigrants Through Canadian Experience Class
Canada’s fastest-growing immigration stream welcomed a record 9,353 newcomers in 2012, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today. “The Canadian Experience Class makes Canada more competitive in attracting and retaining the best and brightest individuals with the skills we need. These are people who have already demonstrated their ability to integrate into the Canadian labour market and society,” said Minister Kenney. […] Introduced in 2008, CEC is an immigration option for international student graduates and skilled foreign workers with professional, managerial and skilled work experience in Canada. Unlike other programs, CEC allows an applicant’s experience in Canada to be considered a key selection factor when immigrating to Canada.
Immigration et Communautés culturelles – Communiqué – Visite des régions sur le thème de l’intégration des personnes immigrantes
À la suite d’une tournée qui l’a menée dans seize régions du Québec, la ministre de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles et ministre responsable de la Charte de la langue française, Mme Diane De Courcy, s’est dite plus convaincue que jamais de l’importance de promouvoir les régions auprès des personnes immigrantes pour inciter un plus grand nombre d’entre elles à s’y établir. La régionalisation de l’immigration est une solution gagnante, surtout pour l’intégration en emploi des travailleuses et travailleurs immigrants, alors que plusieurs régions sont aux prises avec une rareté de main-d’œuvre », a déclaré la ministre Diane De Courcy.
CNW Telbel – Le Québec, un tremplin pour les immigrants?
Le Québec éprouve plus de difficulté à retenir ses immigrants et à les convaincre de s’y établir à long terme que l’Ontario. Ainsi, bon nombre de nouveaux arrivants ne font que transiter par le Québec, ce qui remet considérablement en question notre capacité de les intégrer », déclare le chercheur Daniel Parent, qui vient de réaliser, pour le compte du Centre sur la productivité et la prospérité de HEC Montréal, une étude sur le bilan migratoire qu’a connu le Québec au cours des trente dernières années.
